Teens Are So Desperate for Alcohol They're Chugging Hand Sanitiser

Los Angeles-area hospitals are reporting a terrifying new trend amongst teens: They're using hand sanitiser—and not the good way that results in germ-free fingers. Kids are getting dangerously hammered on the stuff. What happened to the good old days when just a little filched church wine was good enough to do the job?

According to the Los Angeles Times, six teenagers have landed in San Fernando Valley emergency rooms after drinking toxic quantities of hand sanitiser. Make no mistake, they're after the good stuff:

The liquid hand sanitiser is 62% ethyl alcohol and makes a 120-proof liquid. A few drinks can cause a person's speech to slur and stomach to burn, and make people so drunk that they have to be monitored in the emergency room.

OK, fine, you can get drunk on hand sanitiser, but that doesn't mean you should. Come on, guys! Even if teens have been finding creative ways to get drunk forever, this has gone too far. Hand-sanitiser is so much crazier than mouthwash or anything else. There's nothing about that viscous liquid that would make any sane person think it's a good idea to put it in their mouth let alone ingest it. Is it really so hard to get a homeless guy to buy you some beer?

Update: Of course. Whenever there's stupid kids doing stupid things, there's always stupid kids making videos of the stupid things they're doing and sharing them with the whole world. Is that kid in the video above really drinking hand sanitiser? Hard to say, but based on his reaction, we're pretty sure that's what it's like.[LA Times via USAToday]